Park Hill boys' hoops looking for their identity

The Park Hill boys basketball team saw its share of ups and downs as they went 1-1 in their opening week of play, but as they head into the highly competitive Blue Springs Tournament this week, they know there is a lot of upside to their potential if they’re able to be patient and learn from a tough December schedule.

“The thing about us is we’re trying to find our identity,” Park Hill coach David Garrison said. “We have some strengths and there are some things we’ve worked on with our guard play. Anytime you do something new, it’s going to take a while to grasp it. If we stay focused and we keep working hard, we’re going to improve tremendously, which I’m excited about.”

After trailing Kearney by just two at halftime of their season opener, the Trojans came out cold in the second half and weren’t able to get to the free throw line, leading to a 54-40 loss. Their home opener against Oak Park on Friday night had a slightly different tempo to it as Park Hill saw themselves fall behind in the first half of a closely contested matchup. Park Hill took a lead they would not relinquish in the third quarter on the way to a 61-52 win over the Northmen.

While the tone and atmosphere gave the feeling of a district playoff game, there was plenty to resemble an early season game with shaky fundamentals, decision-making, and a 15-36 performance from the free throw line.

“The back and forth was the February part, but our performance and how consistent we were, was definitely the November part,” Garrison said. “They outplayed us in the first half, we didn’t match them effort-wise or energy-wise. We needed a couple things to go our way in the second half to get a win.”

Sophomore guard Landry Shamet led the Trojans in scoring for the second straight game with 14 points.

Drawing Blue Springs South in the first round of the Blue Springs Tournament, the Trojans will face some steep competition over the next two weeks including a ‘Coaches vs. Cancer’ game at Liberty on December 11, a rematch with Blue Springs South at home on December 16, and North Kansas City on December 18.

“We’ll be playing some good teams, so by the time we get to Christmas we’ll have some pretty good experience,” Garrison said.